1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to methods for configuring computer systems, and in particular to a method for conveying device-specific, user-selectable configuration options for peripheral devices.
2. Description of Related Art
The PCI Local Bus Specification, Production Version, Revision 2.0, dated Apr. 30, 1993, and incorporated by reference herein, defines the standard mechanism to support the connection of peripheral devices to a PCI local bus. The PCI Specification also addresses how peripheral devices can define system resource requirements and communicate those requirements to the computer. It is recognized that some devices will require user selection of configuration options. The PCI Specification does not, however, address how a peripheral device conveys device-specific configuration options to a system utility such that they can be presented to a user for selection and to the computer for configuring the peripheral device. Without a standard mechanism for configuring peripheral devices, each vendor would provide their own unique configuration mechanism. For PCI systems that already support a system configuration utility, for example, where the PCI system includes a MicroChannel.TM. (MCA) or EISA bus and uses the MCA or EISA configuration utilities, it would be unacceptable to require users to use multiple configuration utilities, i.e., one for each of the peripheral devices. Moreover, vendors would be forced to deal with the development and management headaches associated with multiple configuration utilities for multiple operating environments.